A Kite Is a Victim Written by Leonard Cohen

The Poem titled "A Kite is a victim" written by Leonard Cohen contains multiple metaphors. Through my own analysis I feel that the author's central focus of the poem concerns life. Cohen discusses the relationships and accomplishes that we make throughout our lifetimes. The kite seems to be the main metaphor of the poem, symbolizing life and living. Each of the four stanzas in the poem begins with a metaphor. In every case the premise is the kite. These metaphors will be analyzed with regard to the central theme of the poem. The first metaphor that I will discuss can be found in the first line of the first stanza. Cohen writes: "A kite is a victim you are sure of". The first stanza presents the qualities of life and love. The kite is a victim like life is sacrificial and sometimes painful. As much as we have happiness we must also experience sadness and hurt. You know that you must experience these hard ships in order to move forward. Cohen describes it as being tempting because it pulls. Life is interesting because you cannot control it completely. There are ups and downs just like a kite in the wind. The next metaphors that I will identify can be found in the first stanza in the third and fourth lines. Both of these lines provide an example of personification, characterizing the kite with human qualities: "Gentle enough to call you master, strong enough to call you fool." A kite cannot be gentle, strong, or call you anything. These metaphors represent the full spectrum of emotions and strength in life. It is gentle enough that you often feel strong and powerful but also strong enough to humble you.
The sixth line of Cohen's poem is a simile. Leonard makes a direct comparison between a falcon and the kite: "like a desperate trained falcon." In this case the metaphor is once again the kite, and the vehicle is the "desperate trained falcon". "A desperate trained falcon" would be a strong bird whose desperation has altered his freedom. The kite or one's